Obama wants tax rise on 'some'

"Soak the rich" long has been a demagogic class warfare political appeal by some politicians, and often has been responded to by some voters, since most of us obviously aren't "rich."

But we should be cautious about anyone wanting to "soak" anyone with higher taxes. While all of us aspire to earn more and be better off for ourselves and our families, some people just envy anyone thought to be "rich."

We are fortunate that many of the rich got that way by doing something good, inventing something, producing something, hiring many of us, providing our family members and friends with jobs and steady incomes for our families. How could "we" get along without "them"?

Why should we want to penalize them?

We should be wary that President Barack Obama currently is proposing to pass the so-called Buffett Rule tax, obviously referring to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who first pitched the idea after noting he is subjected to a lower tax rate than his secretary.

Obama has proposed that anyone earning at least one million bucks a year should pay at least 30 percent of his or her earnings in taxes.

Since that wouldn't affect most of us, we may not worry, or even pay much attention to Obama's high-tax plan.

But our members of Congress are paying attention.

There is fierce debate among senators and representatives about whether some form of the Buffett Rule will pass either chamber.

In an election year, with so much at stake for our country, this issue certainly will remain at the forefront as our elected leaders look to November.

But envy, taxing somebody else, anyone, at a higher tax rate for being successful, is much more likely to produce less economic success for all of the rest of us than it is likely to benefit all of us.

It's a good idea to be wary of any higher tax proposal -- on anyone, any time.